Offering Opioid Use Disorder Medication in Jail Reduces Risk of Rearrest After Release

A new study finds people with opioid use disorder (OUD) who are incarcerated and receive the opioid addiction medication buprenorphine are less likely to be rearrested and reconvicted after they are released.

The study included 469 adults with OUD in two rural jails in Massachusetts. One jail began offering buprenorphine to incarcerated individuals, while the other did not. Researchers found a 32% reduced rate of probation violations, reincarcerations or court charges among the incarcerated individuals in the facility that offered buprenorphine compared to the one that did not, HealthDay reports.

“Studies like this provide much-needed evidence and momentum for jails and prisons to better enable the treatment, education, and support systems that individuals with an opioid use disorder need to help them recover and prevent reincarceration,” Nora D. Volkow, M.D., director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, said in a news release. “Not offering treatment to people with opioid use disorder in jails and prisons can have devastating consequences, including a return to use and heighted risk of overdose and death after release.”